1st 5 Pages Oct Workshop - Loftis

Name: Taelor Loftis

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Title: Veil of Sparks

She’s been saying goodbye to people and places her entire life. You’d think she would be used to it by now. She was six when she said goodbye to the idea of ever knowing her real father. She was ten when she said goodbye to her mother, their little family, and the home they had created together. Now she is eighteen, 426 miles from the only home she’s ever known, and trying not to bawl like a baby at the thought of telling her Uncle Oliver goodbye. 

Despite the tears threatening to spill from her blurry eyes, she knows it shouldn’t be that big of a deal. At some point in time everyone has to spread their wings in order to see what life has to offer them. But this is her Uncle Oliver, Ollie to her, the guy who selfishly gave up his bachelor lifestyle in order to take in a ten-year-old girl after her mom died in a tragic accident. It wasn’t that long ago, on an unusually cold spring evening, that she’d found herself sitting in the middle of a threadbare rug on his living room floor and drowning in silent, quaking sobs after her mom’s funeral. 

Ollie is the only family that she has left, and she’s about to crumble.

“Are you all right?” Ollie asks, searching her eyes for the truth they both know her words won’t say. 

“I’m…good,” she murmurs half-heartedly while flashing an even less stellar smile.  

Ollie’s sandy brow furrows as he looks down at her. She knows he instantly saw through her façade and if she wants to try to fool her uncle, then she’s going to have to step up her game. They have spent too many years living together in his tiny two-bedroom house, diligently working to put all the shattered pieces of her life—their lives—back together, for him to not know that she wasn’t sincere with her words. She scans her tired mind for anything better to say to Ollie and comes up empty. 

Ollie takes a step back, resting an arm on the rusted bedrail of his old truck. “You know, you look just like her when you get lost in your thoughts like that,” he says, his voice calm and smooth against the chatter and commotion of move-in day. A pang rattles through her chest aiming straight for her core as she becomes keenly aware that Ollie is talking about her mother. “Fiona always had that look in her eyes, like she was here but living in a world a million miles away at the same time. Your mom was a dreamer in the truest form. It was like she knew secrets that no one else knew and lived in worlds where those secrets dwelled and came to life. She was always lost in thoughts of what-ifs and what could-bes.”

His crystal blue eyes meet hers, searching the pages of her frayed and tattered soul for a truth she’s not sure even exists. She’s spent every day of the last eight years telling half-truths and bottling up so many emotions just to get through the days, that she’s not even sure if she has the ability to truthfully express how she really feels anymore. And the more she thinks about it, the more she wonders if she’s ever been able to put an honest voice to her feelings, even before her mother’s death. 

Ollie leans forward and a few sandy curls fall over his eyes. “You’re worrying about this. About all of this,” he spreads his arms wide in gesture. “You will fly, you will own this place. You’re fearless, strong, and smarter than anyone I’ve ever known, including myself — and you know how smart I am,” he quips flashing his bold smile. “You’ve got this.”  

Her eyes break from his in a last ditch effort to hold it together. She scans the goings-on around the two of them. There are hundreds of students with their parents, scurrying around amidst the messes of boxes, furniture, and other various belongings. The sound of someone’s possessions tearing through the bottom of an overfilled cardboard box and scattering across the cobblestone pavers echoes off the granite walls of the dormitory. Move-in day is in full force. 

Despite the chaos, energy, and rush of emotions abound, nobody else looks like they are about to have a full-on meltdown in the parking lot. She forces herself to return her eyes to Ollie. The sunlight glints through the strands of his soft messy curls, making him look as if he is young enough to be a student here. He is only thirty-two and very handsome in his own right. Indeed, his six-foot-two frame with slender muscular build, combined with his boy next door charms and general good guy qualities, have been the objects of many girls’ sights in the time they’ve been standing here. 

For a moment, she feels guilty for taking eight years of his prime away from him. He has had plenty of beautiful women over the years try to date him, but he has never returned the interest. To the best of her knowledge, he hasn’t had a serious relationship since he was an undergraduate student himself. She guesses having an orphaned head case of a niece living with you will do that to a guy.

“I know, Ollie, but it’s not just that,” she says, taking a moment to form the words she knows she needs to say. “I know that I am good with books and am tough enough to handle my course load,” she sucks in a breath and lets it out just as quickly. Softly, she continues, “College is actually the least of my worries.” Ollie’s gaze narrows, holding steady on hers as he listens intently. “I guess what I’m trying to get at is that I’m worried about you.”

She swallows hard against the sob rising in her throat, fixing her stormy eyes on the ground and absentmindedly toeing at some loose gravel. Ollie starts to speak but she waves him off and cuts in. “You’re the only family I have left. I know I have trouble expressing my feelings and gratitude toward you, towards anyone, really, but—I love you. I guess I’ve just hoped through the years that you somehow understood that without me ever really saying it. It’s just—hard.” She wipes at a tear threatening to break away, “Mom was the last person I ever told I loved and Mom was the last person I ever said goodbye to. I’ve said goodbye too many times in my life. I don’t want to ever say goodbye again.” Her voice cracks on the last word and she feels the dark endless well of emotions working their way up from the depths of their vault deep inside of her, threatening to consume her. 

Furious at herself for allowing tears to form, she kicks the pile of loose gravel towards the truck.

Ollie peels himself from the truck and embraces her in a giant bear hug. His arms tighten around her to the point where she finds it difficult to breathe. The soft knit fabric of his t-shirt collects the tears that escape the seams of her eyes.